Curtain rod



June 11, 1940. c. P. HENRY 2,204,493

CURTAIN ROD Filed Feb. 9, 1958 Patented June 11, 1940 C'URTAIN ROD Charles P. Henry, Cranston, R. I., assignor to James N. Henry, Cranston, R. I.

Application February 9, 1938, Serial No. 189,481

1 Claim; (Cl. 156-19) My invention relates to curtain rods or supports. The type of rods to which this invention is particularly directed comprises those, either integral or sectional, which are formed fromv 5 bendable sheet metal consisting of a substantially flat body portion having integral top and bottom transversely square or U-shaped flanges, the body and flanges terminating at their ends inraw edges.

10 The exposed end edges of this type of rods rendered it extremely difiicult to successfully force the curtains upon the rods, and has involved delay, abrasion, or other injury to the curtain fabric in effecting the interengagement of the rod 5 and curtain.

Furthermore the rods have been so weak, particularly at or adjacent their ends, as to suffer distortion under strains occasioned by heavy curtains.

30 The essential objects of my invention are to overcome the disadvantages above set forth, as

well to provide a structure which lends itself to facile and inexpensive embodiment. To the above ends essentially my invention 35 consists in such parts and in such combinations of parts as fall within the scope of the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a 1 part of this specification, Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of a straight curtain rod embodying my invention,

Figure 2, a fragmentary plan view of the original blank from which the rod is ultimately formed,

Figure 3, a fragmentary front elevation of my blank after the initial bending operation and the piercing thereof,

Figures l and 5, an end elevation, and a fragmentary rear elevation respectively of the same, Figure 6, an end elevation of the incomplete structure shown in Figure after the flange tongues are inwardly bent,

Figure 7, an end elevation of the structure after the web or body tongue is inwardly bent, 3 Figure 8, a section taken on line 8-8 of Figure '7, and

Figure 9, a fragmentary perspective view of a bent or goose neck type of curtain rod embodying my invention. Similar reference characters indicated similar parts throughout the views.

As herein illustrated l I, I! represent the sections of ahollow curtain rod I2 of the straight vtype, each section comprising a central longitudinally disposed vertical web or body portion I3, 7

and inwardly directed oppositely disposed substantiallyU-shaped flanges l4 comprising horizontal portions l5 integral with the top and bottom of the web, and vertical portions 16 directed toward each other. The flange portions 15 are 5 provided with socket openings or perforations :7 near their outer ends for the reception of the usual.

upright supporting brackets, not shown. The

flanges M form upper and lower channels I B merging with the major orcentral channel 19. 10 Integral with the outer ends of the horizontal portions of the flanges I4 are rectangular lugs 23 inwardly bent into a plane transverse to the plane both of the web l3 and of the flanges l4, and substantially closing the ends of the chanl6 nels l8.

V Integral with each outer end of the vertical web or body portion l3 of sections H of the rod' I2 is a broad tongue or lip 25, provided with inclined lateral edges 26, inwardly bent over into lapping engagement with the lugs 23 and into a plane transverse to the planes of the web l3 and of the flanges l4, and substantially closing the channel I9. I

Th e mutually overlapping lugs 23 and tongue 25 25 form an abutment,represented inja general way by 21 in Figures 1, '7, and 8, which abutment substantially closes each end of the curtain rod, and, because of their construction and location impart rigidity and strength to the entire rod structure. I

The described structure lends itself to facile and inexpensive formation; The original fiat blank from which'one of the sections H is ultimately formed is cut from a thin sheet of metal, the outline thereof being shown in Figure 2 wherein the body of the blank is unbent and the lugs. 23 and lip, 25 are in the same plane as the body. By suitable drawing tools the blank is next bent into the form shown in Figures 3, 4, and 40 I 5 wherein the flanges M are formed. By dies the lugs 23 are first bent at right angles, as shown in Figure 6, and by dies the lip 25 is next bent, as shown in Figure 8.

The abutment 21 eliminates the raw endedges from the curtain rod whose presence made it slow and diflicultto insert the rod in the curtain loop and resulted in cutting or defacing thefabric.

In Figure 9 is shown a goose neck type of curtain rod 30 which is distinguished from the straight type of rod by a right angular curved "bend 3l adjacent the attaching end of the rod section. I 1

I claim:

In a hollow curtain rod, a vertical web, the upper and. lower edges thereof extending laterally from the web and then having depending portions bent in spaced parallel relation to the web and spaced from each other to form upper and lower panels, lugs extending from the ends of the lateral edges and. bent at right angles to the web and to the depending portions to close the panels, and a lift on the end of the web bent at right angles thereto to overlap the bent lugs and close the gap therebetween.

CHARLES P. HENRY. 

